Piyush Goyal, Power and Energy minister is looking forward to some sops for the power sector in the upcoming Budget 2017. Speaking to CNBC TV 18 in an exclusive interview Goyal said, “I am looking for tax sops for solar rooftops and renewables in Budget.” Talking further about the power sector he said that he is looking at revitalising hydro sector and tenders of wind power projects will be floated soon. The government is trying hard to boost hydro power sector.

The government is planning to formulate a policy to push stalled projects and extend the benefits for renewable sources like wind and solar to hydro projects beyond 25 MW capacity. “We are looking at coming up with a pro-active hydro power policy to push stalled projects and explore the possibility of extending benefits for renewable sources like wind and solar to hydro projects beyond 25 MW,” Piyush Goyal recently said. Hydro power potential in the country has been estimated at about 150 GW, with 50 GW coming from Arunachal Pradesh alone.

Meanwhile, Goyal also spoke about demonetisation. Stating that demonetisation has been a success in every way, he said that the clean up process taken by the government will give rich dividends to the poor via low inflation. “Demonetisation is not a one-tanche effort. It had multiple goals,” he added. Narendra Modi government’s 50-day window to exchange old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes ends today.

It is now clear that demonetisation is only one of the many steps towards the grand goal Modi government has set for itself. In an interview to India Today on Thursday, PM Modi himself warned, “You must understand we took the decision on demonetisation not for some short-term windfall gain, but for a long-term structural transformation.”